(image: Republic of Korea Army)
SEOUL, Aug. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — The Korean army showed off firing exercises based on virtual reality and training exercises in augmented reality at the Korean Military Academy yesterday with 80 high-level military officials present at the demonstration session including Kim Yong-u, the Army Chief of Staff.
Last year, the Korean Military Academy won a bid placed by the Ministry of Science Technology & Innovation to create a comprehensive training system based on virtual reality technology.
The ministry funded the project with a budget of 3.2 billion won that required 16 researchers to develop a simulator for firing exercises and tactical training to be carried out in virtual reality in addition to a simulator for command and control training based on augmented reality.
A program that collects training data and analyzes the effectiveness of various training exercises was also created as part of the comprehensive system.
The firing exercises simulator was developed to allow soldiers to access various types of firing exercises including zero range, absolute range, targeting moving marks, and nighttime firing.
A military official said that the system re-creates the same type of recoil and sound as an actual rifle, allowing soldiers to train under conditions that are similar to real-life situations.
The command and control training will allow soldiers to play war games inside three-dimensional topography thanks to the help of augmented reality, a far cry from the sandboxes used for the exercises in conventional training.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
